A Potion Master's Exile
by Animagical
Summary: Post DH AU. Snape's now living in NYC to get away from England, where it's still thought he murdered Albus Dumbledore. He's now living as a muggle, teaching at NYU and comes across an unexpected student he's not too happy about. HGSS


_A/N: I love Hermione/Snape fanfics, so I'm gonna try one. :D_

_I'm using a lot of Chemistry terminology that I don't understand really, so bear with me  I don't expect you to understand it either, It's just giving me something that he's actually teaching._

* * *

**Reacquainted**

"Blast it all, damn people! MOVE!"

Snape was fuming. He hated people, especially Muggle businessmen, so utterly convinced their lives were more important than anyone else's. They'd go to their desk-jobs, make lots of money doing nothing, and go home to their suburban houses, where they had a loving spouse, 3 kids and a dog to welcome them home. He viewed them with disdain.

He was stuck on a jammed subway at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, late for his class, all because he couldn't afford a stupid taxi cab. He was getting claustrophobic. _They really do pack you in these metal boxes like sardines. No room to swing a kneazle. You think I'd be used to it by now…DAMN MUGGLES, WHAT NOW?! _An old woman dropped her shopping bag at the entrance to the cart and was blocking the procession of people hastily trying to exit the subway car. She was muttering her apologies and picking up all of her broken items. People were shouting obscenities at her, tripping over her. Snape normally might have helped her, but was in such a bad mood he could only grimace. He had to instead wait patiently for her to finish and get out of the way.

As he finally exited the cart, he slung his dark leather bag over his shoulder, and walked out of the throng of people, free of the filth of them touching him. He looked over to the old woman. She was sobbing quietly, still trying to contain her miscellaneous items, most broken, their contents spilled all over the place. _Bloody people couldn't even help her, _he thought. He felt a surge of sympathy and quietly muttered a _Reparo_ on her things. They magically sprang together and she looked amazed. He hastily looked away so she wouldn't suspect him having to do anything with it. He looked at his watch. 2:05. _Shite, I'm late_. _If I hurry I can just make it._ Unwillingly, he plunged into the mass of people. He spent the next 10 minutes finishing his walk to the New York University being jostled and bumped into by numerous people. He hated this, and yet he still did it everyday.

What he was doing in New York City was beyond him. _Oh yea, that's right, _he thought sarcastically to himself. _All of bloody England still thinks you killed Albus Dumbledore, even though you were proved innocent and the Ministry finally removed the bloody 10 thousand-galleon bounty on your head. You had to get away from all the sniveling, ignorant idiots. Oh yea, you also have Lucius Malfoy and his cronies after you. That's why you're stuck as a simple Chemistry professor at NYU. _He grimaced. He was glad to get away from them. Even the life of a muggle here was better than going back there where he was hated. Even some of the Order members distrusted him. His only magical contact was being involved minutely in the Ministry of Magic here in America. Its headquarters was in NYC as well. He was starting his job today as a Theoretical Chemistry Professor. Luckily, they gave him the Graduate class; he doubted he could stand stupid muggle students.

When he reached the school, he glanced at his watch and decided he didn't have time to go to his office if he wanted to be on time.

He managed to make his way to his class to arrive just on time. It was 2:29 when he walked in the door. The class was chatting amiably, but when he walked in silence descended. He was in a small seminar room. He'd be in this class Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, and be in the chemistry lab Tuesdays and Fridays. He set his bag on the lecture table and began writing his name on the board without so much as a glance at his class. When he finished writing "Professor Snape" on the board, he finally surveyed his class. He counted 12 students. They looked unpromising. _I'm exiled and I'm still a bloody teacher._ In this environment, however, he could keep it as impersonal as he wanted.

He surveyed the room in his typical introductorily foreboding way, staring all the students down. It generally intimidated them enough so they obeyed orders well. He stared at each of them in turn. One student, a girl, when he made contact with her something flickered between them, a type of recognition. He was momentarily dazed and then brushed it off. "Welcome…class…to the graduate level of Theoretical Chemistry." He said in his silky, quiet voice. "Although this class is _theoretical, _we will still be doing much practical work. You must see what happens when you test your theories in order to full understand them. And since this is graduate level, I realize you must have some proficiency in the subject in order to have come this far. I expect you to dedicate yourself to this class, as it will take much work on your part. We are together for 6 months at the very least. Some of you may not survive the workload, but hopefully, you will be fruitful. I expect you to be in class everyday, and if you are not, you must have a reasonable…excuse. If you are not, however, it makes little difference to me. I get paid either way, I just wish your money would not go to waste."

It worked. He guessed he was surprisingly intimidating, the man in the black suit at the head of the class. They were quite attentive now. "We will start they day with attendance." He opened his bag on the table and pulled out a 3 ring binder, a clipboard, his course schedule, and his notes for the day. He picked up his clipboard and began reading out names. "Burns, Amelia" and so it went until he paused suddenly at a "Granger, Hermione." He grimaced. So…that girl…ha…the Know-It-All seems to have followed him to America. Wonderful. This is just what he needed. She answered with a polite and eager "here" which made him grimace even more. She…in his class…then he glowered. He continued to call out names but his mind was elsewhere. It'd be just like it was at Hogwarts…how annoying that witch was! He'd simply make it as enjoyable now as it was then. When roll was finished, he picked up his chalk and got right to work.

"We'll begin today with chemical kinetics." He wrote a formula on the board. "The basic chemical reaction formula. You should all be familiar with it by now. As discussed in most undergraduate introductory and physical chemistry texts a plot of ln k(T) vs T-1 can then be used to extract an activation energy Ea if the dependence of k on T is assumed to obey the Arrhenius theoretical model. I trust you understand this." The students were all taking leisurely notes. Hermione, he was amused to notice was raptly paying attention; although Snape was sure she knew this by now. He turned to write another equation on the board and spoke to them while writing.

"During the time of Arrhenius, understanding of the meaning of the parameters A and Ea obtained by analyzing rate data in this manner was limited. It was not known how they related to intrinsic properties of the reacting molecules. Can anyone tell me what it was used for?" He'd bet 10 galleons whose hand would be up the highest. There were a couple people's hands up, and sure enough, Hermione's was one of them, her hand eagerly up in the air. It was also the highest in the air. Snape viewed her with contempt. _How predictable_, he thought. _Well, let's see if she's up to scratch._ "Yes…miss…?" he pretended to not know her name. Hermione played along. "Granger, sir. Arrhenius's equation proved to be a powerful tool for predicting reaction rates over a wide range of temperatures once Ea and A had been determined." She finished proudly.

"It's to be expected that you'd spout something word for word from a textbook rather than understanding and paraphrasing it." He said superciliously and her face fell. "I expect you all to do that from now on instead of memorizing schoolbooks. Don't follow Mrs. Granger's example." Hermione glared at Snape. Some of the boys snickered. He felt elation at tormenting her, as he always did. She was an intelligent chit, true, but he couldn't stand her. He turned back to the board. "Miss Granger is correct, however. Don't mistake that." He had to grit his teeth to say it.

Class went on like that for the rest of the three hours. He'd ask questions, the students would answer, and he'd degrade them and continue teaching. They spent time reviewing spectroscopy and oxidation numbers and properties of certain elements. Snape was actually moderately pleased at how much the class actually knew. They still had a long way to go, but it was start.

By the time class ended, no one looked very happy. He assigned them a couple of chapters to read with some homework. They all packed up quietly and left the class muttering. Snape waited until the class filed out before he packed up to leave. He swung his bag over his shoulder and left the classroom. His office was on the fifth floor of this building. He was severely tired, so he decided to take the elevator rather than take the stairs and he normally would have. He pressed the up button and waited.

"Long time no see, Professor." A voice said. Snape looked up. The Know-It-All was standing a few feet from him, looking him over coldly.

"Following me, Granger?" he asked icily. " I would figure you'd rush home to do all you homework before eating."

"No, I'd much rather spend my time finding what my batty old teacher was doing here. I admit I didn't expect to see you walking into a classroom of mine ever again, let alone teaching it. I was quite horrified." The elevator had arrived.

"Well, " replied Snape, stepping onto the elevator. "You seemed like the Little Miss Know-It-All I remembered. Jumping up in her seat like an agitated chipmunk to answer a question." Hermione's eyes blazed.

"Know-It-All?" she asked, voice dangerously quiet. Snape then remembered he wasn't dealing with a student anymore. She was an adult, and although they were in Muggle territory, she was still an extremely accomplished witch. She was fuming and got on the elevator. She radiated anger and stared Snape down.

"And you are still the same greasy haired bat I remember." She delivered scathingly. Snape was again reminded that she was an adult now. It didn't stop him from being enraged that she dare talk to him like that. The elevator door closed and they started moving upward. It was in complete icy silence.

"What are you doing here, Professor?" Hermione asked in a different voice when the elevator stopped again. It was full of compassion and interest. Snape would have none of it.

"Mind your own business!" He spat and left the elevator. Hermione followed him. _Damn the woman!! Why won't she go away?_ He made it all the way to his office and fumbled in his bag for his keys. It wasn't until then that he realized he forgot them at home. He growled.

"Lost you keys, have you, almighty teacher?" Hermione smirked.

Not in the mood for it, he simply checked to see that no one was looking and muttered _alohamora_. The door clicked and swung open. He stepped over the threshold angrily and threw his bag onto the empty chair next to his desk. He fell into his chair, rubbing his eyes. Hermione gently placed his bag on the table and took the seat it had occupied.

"Go away, bloody woman!" he growled at her, not looking up.

"Why?" was all she said. It infuriated him into speechlessness. She took advantage of his silence. "Why are you here, of all places? Why America?"

"That's none of your concern! Had it occurred to you that I may like being here teaching? It's better than teaching all of you dunderheads back home! Bah!" He took his bag and opened it, grabbing

"Pfft, if you had your way you'd never teach again." She was right and both she and he knew it. She had him caught.

"Just go away. Leave me in peace."

"No. I'd never thought I'd see anyone else from our world again and now you tell me to get lost? I don't think so. Even if it is only you, I want to know what's going on." He looked up from his random fumbling in his bag and actually studied her for the first time.

She was much different in appearance. Her hair had been cut. It was still curly, but it was cut short to her head. She had filled out, in a womanly shape, not the girl he remembered. She was also much older. _If she's in grad school, she'd have to be around 23 or so, what is she doing here learning Muggle science?_ Curiosity overcame his dislike and he wondered why she was here.

"What are you doing here, then? Shouldn't' you be off becoming on auror or being a baby factory with Weasley?" he grumbled out. She seemed slightly offended, but she composed herself nicely.

"I'd answer you, but I'd asked you first." She said sweetly. _How childish_ thought Snape. His curiosity was breaching now. He had to know, but he couldn't share with her his reasons, they were too personal. She probably had guessed them anyway.

"Well, I'm not going to discuss it, so you're wasting you're time." He said coldly.

Hermione was taken aback by his abrupt change in composure and stood up. "Sorry I asked" she said coolly and left without a backward glance.

Snape really wasn't sorry to see her go, but a part of him was. He'd been so long out of the loop of anything magical that he was feeling rather lonely. "Wait!" he called out and ran out his office. "Wait!!!" Hermione stopped and turned around, mildly surprised. He couldn't believe he was about to do this. He approached her and stopped. He didn't quite tower over her like he used to. She came up to his chin about.

He gritted his teeth and spoke. "Would…would you like to go to dinner with me tomorrow night?" he choked out. He couldn't believe he was doing this. Hermione's widened in surprise but she smiled widely.

"I'd love to." Snape was shocked. He insulted her, berated her, humiliated her in front of her peers, and she still wanted to be affiliated with him?

"At 7, then?" he asked awkwardly. And now he was awkward, what was wrong with him!?

"I'll give you my address." She dug in her school bag and brought out a pen and piece of paper, which she wrote on. She gave it to him and smiled.

She looked at her watch and her expression changed into one of dismay. "Oh no! I'm late!" She looked around frantically.

Snape was confused. "Late for what?"

"I told Oliver I'd meet him at 6. It's 6:13 now!" Deciding it was safe, she pulled out her wand and disapparated with a crack.

_Oliver…who the hell is Oliver?_ Thought Snape. He snorted. _And _why_ do I care?_ Shaking his head, walked back to his office

* * *

_A/N: Who is Oliver…I have no idea…what do you think:D_

_I don't really have a plot for this, so if you want to input something, go ahead!_


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